SCOLOPACID.E. obl 



weight of the feraale to he 2| oz., and that of the male 3| oz. ; the female 

 measured S;j in., and the male 9| in. This pair of Pectoral Sandpipers, 

 still in beautiful condition, are now in our collection, and we also possess 

 another, shot some years ago out of a flock of Purres on the I^orthumber- 

 land Coast (M. A. M.). 



We know of no other Devonshire examples of this American species, 

 with the exception of some mentioned by Pellamy (Nat. Hist. S. Devon, 

 p. 323, note) as shot on the Tamar and preserved by Pincombe, but 

 on the Scilly Isles two were seen, and one obtained, in May 1840 ; 

 another, a few years later, occurred at Gyllyngvase East, near Falmouth ; 

 and in the month of September, 1870, Mr. llodd received three from the 

 Scilly Isles, which had been obtained on different days, and thought that 

 this Sandpiper might be a more frequent autumn visitor to our shores 

 than it is supposed to be, its inconspicuous plumage leading to its being 

 overlooked. And since the publicatiou of Mr. Rodd's book another 

 Pectoral Sandpiper from the Scilly Isles has been recorded by Mr. Cornish, 

 which was obtained in the autumn of 1SS3 (Zool. 1883, p. 495). 



The Pectoral Sandpiper's nesting-habitat is unknown, and no collection 

 possesses its eggs. 



Bonaparte's Sandpiper. Tringa fusckollis, Vieill. 



An accidental visitor, of very rare occurrence. 



This is another American species, bearing some resemblance to the 

 Dunlin, fiom which it can, however, be at all times distinguished owing to 

 its upi)er tail-coverts being white, which, in common with the Pectoral 

 Sandpi])er, has contrived as yet to maintain its nesting-quarters a secret 

 from egg-collectors. It is seen commonly in flocks in the autumn on 

 sands and mud-flats in America on its passage south from the extreme 

 north, and its occurrences in this country are about equal in number to 

 those of the preceding species. In North Devon four were shot on the 

 Taw, near Instow, in November 1870, three were preserved, and one was 

 too much injured to make into a specimen. There appears to have beeen 

 a small immigration of this Sandpiper about that time, as Mr. Ilodd 

 records one which had been shot at the l^izard, as well as one from the 

 Scilly Isles, and another was reported from Eastbourne. Mr. E. II. Podd 

 had in his collection two adults, male and female, wliich were shot near 

 Hayle, in 184G. Although he calls them Sch'uiz's Sttmlpijier^ a name 

 given by Jireliiii to a small race of the Dunlin, tlie full description he 

 gives of their plumage makes it evident that his l)irds were Jionapartes 

 ti(Ui(fjnjter, In ()ct(>])er 1 854, he was able to mention another of these 

 Sandpipers wliich had been shot at Trcsco in the Scilly Isles. 



